Paris Fashion Week

By Katie Wright

Paris Fashion Week

Making up for Milan, which I think overall lacked enough real stand-out shows, Paris put on quite the extravaganza last week, packed full of shows where the ridiculous catwalk antics were actually matched by the quality of the collections. It’s going to take some time to catch up on the Spring/Summer trends, so stay tuned as I run through the highs, and gloss over the lows, from the city of lights.A prime example of a show where the inclusion of a gigantic hay stack out of which the models appeared and the press-friendly addition of a Lily Allen performance didn’t detract from the clothes was at CHANEL. No prizes for guessing that what emerged from the hay was a rodeo’s worth of country girls (and a few boys) but naturally with Karl Lagerfeld at the helm this was no one-trick show. In fact, there was a hell of a lot to chronicle: chunky clogs; wicker baskets; prom dresses and shoes strewn with rosettes; miles of red, white and blue tulle; matching his and hers cowboy outfits; crop top and miniskirt combos; plus some particularly fantastic hosiery. Rather than country and western, I thought it all added up to a grungier aesthetic, like Courtney Love’s ‘kinderwhore’ look. Whatever the era, it was a damn fine show.